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This report by the Green Economy Coalition reviews the first ten years of the SEED Awards (2005-2015), an initiative founded by UNEP, UNDP, and IUCN to support social and environmental enterprises. It analyzes the survival and impact of 202 SEED Winners across 37 countries, highlighting the role of multi-stakeholder partnerships and tailored support in fostering green and inclusive growth at the grassroots level.

The Economics for Nature (E4N) partnership developed tools, networks, and best practices to embed the value of natural capital into government, business, and financial decision-making. Key achievements include the Green Economy Tracker, the '3-returns' investment framework, and the mainstreaming of natural capital into the EU Green Deal and African Development Bank programmes. The document identifies a divergence between OECD countries and debt-stressed nations in adopting these approaches and outlines four 'frontiers' for future progress: centering people and Indigenous knowledge, standardizing valuation frameworks, implementing systemic economic reform, and scaling nature-based solutions.

The Green Economy Coalition advocates for a systemic shift from narrow economic metrics like GDP toward a 'green economy' that prioritizes human wellbeing and ecological health. The report identifies five key action areas: redefining progress through new metrics, reforming financial flows to reduce short-termism, greening high-impact sectors (energy, food, housing, transport), investing in people to ensure inclusive growth, and managing natural systems to protect essential ecosystem services. It concludes with nine guiding principles for a fair and inclusive transition, emphasizing the need for multi-stakeholder engagement and a move away from resource-intensive growth.

The report finds that most green economy plans lack meaningful participation from marginalised groups, fail to specifically target the poorest to reduce inequality, and do not sufficiently address the limits to growth or the urgency of the low-carbon transition.

The report evaluates South Africa's sustainability transition, arguing that the green economy is often treated as a sector rather than an economy-wide transformation. It critiques the 2011 Green Economy Accord as a 'public relations exercise' due to a lack of enforcement and monitoring, while praising the Socio-Economic Impact Assessment System (SEIAS) for improving the inter-disciplinary nature of policymaking despite internal capacity constraints.

The Green Outcomes Fund (GOF) is a pioneering climate finance instrument in South Africa that uses an outcomes-based payment model to de-risk investments in green SMMEs. By providing grant funding to Catalytic Finance Partners (CFPs) upon the verification of specific green outcomes—primarily permanent job creation—the GOF aims to bridge the investment gap for high-potential green businesses. The pilot phase, launched in January 2020 with a total facility size of ZAR 488.1 million, has demonstrated that such incentives can encourage fund managers to invest in sectors they previously avoided due to perceived risk. Key findings highlight the necessity of business development support for SMMEs and the importance of deep sector expertise for fund managers. While the fund has successfully created green jobs and diverted waste, it has faced challenges with slow drawdown of funds due to a prevalence of low-skilled jobs and the disruptive impact of COVID-19. The GOF is now exploring scaling strategies, including expanding its model within South Africa and extending its reach to other African countries such as Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Uganda.

The Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP) connected Duferco Steel Processing and FS Smit with Cape E-Waste to manage stockpiles of electronic waste. This arrangement diverted over a tonne of hazardous waste from landfills, resulting in cost savings of R470 per tonne for the companies and the creation of three jobs for dismantling equipment.

The Alternative Service Delivery Unit (ASDU), implemented by GreenCape, is seeking a service provider to deliver decentralized energy services to at least 300 households in the Nomzamo Agricultural Village, Mpumalanga. The project, funded by the Embassy of Denmark and the New Zealand High Commission, aims to establish a financially sustainable, community-led energy provision model. The contract runs from 1 March 2024 to 30 September 2024, after which the project is intended to operate as an independent entity. Bidders are evaluated on technical competence, financial proposals, B-BBEE status, and site visit attendance, with a requirement for experience in South African informal settlements.

The document outlines the investment proposition for the Atlantis Special Economic Zone (ASEZ), focusing on its role as a greentech manufacturing hub. It details available land, infrastructure, and a range of national and municipal incentives, while providing specific cost data for electricity, water, and labour in the Western Cape region.

The City of Cape Town (CCT) is developing a 7MW ground-mounted solar PV plant in Atlantis, marking the first utility-scale renewable energy project in South Africa owned and operated by a metropolitan municipality. Initiated in 2021 following a regulatory shift in the Electricity Regulation Act, the project aims to reduce reliance on Eskom and improve energy security. The CCT utilised a Corporate Project, Programme, and Portfolio Management (CPPPM) framework and an Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) contracting strategy via an NEC4 DBO contract to mitigate risks, including unexpected groundwater issues and global solar panel price shocks. The plant, which includes a 5MW/10MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), is expected to be completed by April 2026, avoiding 12,524 tonnes of CO2e emissions per annum and providing significant cost savings compared to Eskom tariffs.

The document presents data on Cape Town's green energy sector, identifying 184 energy companies across various specializations and sizes, contributing R14.7B in annual revenue and employing 11,368 people.

The GOF Phase II proposal seeks to raise USD 3-5 million in grant funding to leverage USD 15-20 million in private capital for green SMMEs in South Africa. Building on Phase I, which created 946 green jobs and achieved a 5x catalysation multiplier, the fund aims to de-risk investments in innovative green sectors to drive job creation. GreenCape serves as the fund manager, with design support from the Anglo American Foundation and evaluation from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet.

GreenCape has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a legal service provider to assist in developing a Waste Management Policy and Regulatory Tool. The tool is intended to help municipalities and project developers navigate the complex legal requirements for implementing alternative waste treatment technologies in South Africa, specifically within the Western Cape province.

This document is a Request for Quotation (RFQ) issued by the GreenCape Sector Development Agency to secure additional office space in Cape Town to accommodate team members for the JUST SA project.

The document presents data on 600 companies in Cape Town's green sectors, highlighting that the majority are micro-enterprises and that the sector contributes R312 billion to the city's total GDP.

GreenCape has issued an RFQ for the design of the brand identity and digital assets for 'PowerUp', a renewable energy skills platform under the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM). The project requires a logo, brand guidelines, and various digital and promotional materials to be delivered between November 2024 and January 2025.

The PowerUp Platform is a digital hub created to bridge the gap between industry requirements and the training provided by post-school education and training (PSET) institutions in South Africa's renewable energy sector. It aims to facilitate collaboration between industry leaders, PSET institutions, SETAs, and social compact partners to ensure the availability of skills necessary for industrialisation and a just transition. The platform focuses on six core objectives: communication, awareness, identifying competency gaps, funding facilitation, workplace training, and creating linkages for youth and transitioning workers. Unlike a static job portal, PowerUp is an active facilitation tool that uses matchmaking, workshops, and brokerage to drive tangible skills outcomes.

This Request for Quotation (RFQ) issued by GreenCape seeks a service provider to conduct community engagement, enumeration, and mobilisation in Nomzamo Agri Village, Ermelo, Mpumalanga. The project, funded by the Royal Danish Embassy of South Africa, aims to establish a service delivery mechanism to increase access to basic energy services for marginalised communities as part of a Just Transition in the green economy.

UV Tooling CC, a parts manufacturer in Cape Town, installed a 150 kWp solar PV system and 290 kWh Li-ion battery storage to combat systemic loadshedding. The system provides 2.5 hours of protection per loadshedding event and utilizes peak shaving to reduce costs. This investment has resulted in a 47% reduction in monthly electricity bills and avoids over R1.2 million in annual diesel costs, with an expected payback period of 7.5 years.

The workshop addressed the emerging waste stream of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in South Africa, noting that while most current waste stems from damage, obsolete panels will increase significantly within five years. Participants discussed the legal ban on solar panels in landfills starting August 2021, the need for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, and the trade-offs between centralized recycling facilities and local dismantling hubs. The report highlights the importance of the waste management hierarchy—preventing, reusing, and repairing—and suggests that while full local recycling may not be feasible in the short term, local pre-processing and the export of PV cells are viable options.